The word love is about as common a word as there is in our English language. We mostly think about it in the romantic sense, and it gets connected with greeting cards, flowers, and other gifts.

The message for this Sunday would have us look at "love" in the biblical sense. How does it get lived out among us as Christians? Is it just having a warm and friendly disposition toward someone else? We find the apostle Paul giving us a definition of love for the people of his day because he realized the dissension that was present in the Corinthian church. Here is what Paul wrote to them about how love should be lived out....

"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. it does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth..It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.​Love never ends....now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13

There is a quality to this Christian love that is willing to overcome any selfish motive in loving others. It all derives from the nature of God's love toward us. Jesus himself was willing to sacrifice his own life out of love - not for his own aggrandizement - but for our salvation.

Can you name any instances in how this love has been lived out in the church? Have you seen any examples even outside the church?

I would ask you to reflect on these words of the apostle Paul as you prepare for worship this Sunday. The complete reading is 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.